Software Engineering for Financial Services

Software Engineering for Financial Services

MSc,
PGDip,
1-2 years, full-time

This is for you if... you want to study software engineering at an advanced level.

Course Description

Financial services are not only one of the most dynamic sectors of
the economy but also one of the two largest customers of IT. This MSc is jointly run with the University's School of Business in order to give you
not only a command of the software technologies that financial
institutions require to 'embrace the challenge of change' but also the
business context and organisational structures that IT systems need to
support.

We will concentrate on architectures for building
scalable financial software systems, including technologies and
techniques that are particularly relevant for the challenges of the
financial market - predominantly a need to migrate from
mission-critical, monolithic legacy systems to more flexible
architectures that allow speedy reaction to customer and business
partner’s needs. The technical aspect will be seen in the context of the
business environment, where software engineers typically interact with a
world of financial jargon and departments with specialised roles and
needs.

Duration

The
regular degree takes 12 months if you start in October, or 16 months if
you start in January. The 'With Industry' degree takes 21 months if you
start in October, or 24 months if you start in January.

NB. If you start your course in January, you will take Semester 2 before Semester 1.

Why Leicester?

The Department of Informatics at Leicester is a thriving academic community with extensive experience in delivering high quality courses and undertaking pioneering research.

Most of our members of staff are actively engaged in research and are frequently guests of universities both in the UK and other countries to lecture on their work.

The Department has three Staff Student Committees - for undergraduates, postgraduates and PhDs - consisting of student representatives and members of staff. These provide a forum to discuss general issues and problems, and for staff to give feedback.

Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.

Industry Placement (optional)

Industry Placement (optional)

Studying a 'with industry' masters degree is the perfect way for you to enhance your career prospects and deepen your understanding of your specific area of expertise. By experiencing real-world scenarios and applying your skills and knowledge to business challenges, you will gain a unique insight into how your studies can be utilised in industry. This will not only showcase your abilities to future employers, but will also enhance your studies when you return to University to complete your programme.

Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.

Individual Project

Individual Project

Your course will conclude with an individual project (after your
industry placement, if you have taken one). Using the experience gained
during your course/placement, you will choose a challenging problem to
work on and explore it by privately studying under the supervision of a
member of the academic staff. (Students studying for a PGDip don't
complete a project.)

A Selection of Recent MSc Projects

News monitoring and analytics platform

The aim of this project to develop an EJB component for web applications to monitor a list of RSS feeds and news websites and to provide a logical infrastructure to support automatic classification and analysis/interpretation of real-time news content. Investigating the possibility of using Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Semantic Web techniques for text mining.

Find a Property! Investment Recommendation Service

This project with an industrial partner looked at creating an investment property algorithm that finds investment properties for clients throughout the UK. The project built on a prototype system built in a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PhP) environment and was concerned with

evaluating the current technology and algorithm and documenting the system

conducting feasibility studies into new solutions to improve the system

Initial ideas for new technologies and improvements involve the use of semantic keyword analysis, Bayesian inference and forecasting using past data, machine learning solutions based on feedback, etc. to improve the accuracy of the algorithm.

Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.

Additional Information

What's the Difference?

The PGDip includes the same modules as the MSc but without the final project.

Teaching and Assessment

Teaching methods include lectures, seminars, self-paced learning and
practicals. Assessment is a mix of coursework - computer-based
practicals, essays and small group projects - and exams

The
compulsory 'Personal and Group Skills' module combines seminars, group
discussions and collective essay writing on selected topics, as well as a
series of workshops on transferable skills and career planning.

Career Opportunities

All our postgraduate
Informatics degrees are available 'with industry': stimulating your
creativity and capacity to innovate, and ensuring that you acquire key
transferable skills. These courses will allow you to develop into a
highly skilled professional, well versed in advanced methods and tools.
Colleagues from industry participate directly in the delivery of some of
the modules, including hands-on tutorials that allow you to use some of
the tools and methodologies that are shaping the software development
landscape.

We have an open approach to collaboration with
industry. We undertake joint projects, provide consultancy services, and
organise events to connect you with potential employers. We also run an
Industrial Advisory Board: its members are computer scientists who hold
successful careers in industry and who help us ensure that your
training is industrially relevant.

Careers

Our Career Development Service is here to support you, with advice on interviews, CVs, work experience, volunteering and more. From Freshers’ Week to Graduation and beyond, they are here to help you reach your professional goals.